It's time to Du-Du-Du-Du-Du-Du-Du-Dune!

I recently got a friend who said that they don’t like science fiction to read Dune and it is one of my favorite books of all time so I figured that I would write my first blog post about it, Alejandro Jodorowsky's proposed film adaptation, and the actual film adaptation, which, full disclosure, I could not finish because it was so bad. Although the proposed film adaptation seems like it would have been better than the actual film adaptation I am still quite skeptical because much of Dune is based off inner monologs and subtle hints that tend to be incredibly hard to get right in movies.

Dune is a book set at least 21,000 years into a future, in which both powerful computers and AIs have been outlawed. One important aspect of this future is a resource known as spice melange which makes people live extraordinarily long lives and in some people can grant a small amount of prescience. The plot of the book is that a noble house is forced to take over the planet, which has the spice, but it’s a trap by the emperor to collapse the house. The story focuses on how the house works with the natives of the planet to defeat the trap and gain power for themselves.

The actual film adaptation did just about the worst thing it could have done by being boring., which may sound silly based on what the book Dune is, but what makes a good book is different from what makes a good movie. They also turn something, which in the book was very precise control of the body, and in some people the ability to talk with their ancestors, into magical powers, at one point even controlling the rain. And at the end of the day, the film’s graphics simply are not up to par with what a modern audience expects, leaving a final nail in the coffin for this flop of a movie.

Jodorowsky's proposed adaptation was going to be a much larger project set in a much more colorful world. The plan was to make a ten-hour movie with famous actors, artists, and musicians, including Salvador Dali and Mick Jagger. It was going to be a semi-faithful reimagining, as Jodorowsky believed that Dune was more like a legend than a book. But, sadly, the project's budget fell through and the project was canceled just before filming was supposed to begin.

Since these attempts, there have been other attempts made with the most recent being in 2008 however that project is still in limbo and may or may not ever happen. If another remake ever does happen all we can hope is that it stays more true to the plot than the one we have right now and that it doesn't give someone force powers.